Can Comcast connect?

Los Angeles Times: New Year’s Day will mark the end of one of the unhappiest decades ever for the entertainment industry — a span that saw piracy skyrocketing, music sales plummeting, home video revenue shrinking, mega-mergers going sour and audiences dwindling. The new millennium coincided with the dawn of a new digital era, one that empowers consumers and creators at the expense of the conglomerates that own much of the programming people watch on their television sets and listen to in their cars. Nevertheless, executives at Comcast, the nation’s largest cable TV operator, believe it’s a propitious time to take over NBC Universal, owner of the also-ran NBC network and hit-starved Universal Studios. Wall Street evidently agreed; investors drove the company’s stock up 6.5 percent after the $30-billion deal was announced.

Some consumer advocates warn that the acquisition could lead to a bevy of anti-competitive abuses. The new, combined company would have an incentive to crush online video upstarts, shut out independent cable networks and gouge local advertisers, they warn. It’s worth exploring these issues, and Washington’s newly invigorated regulators are likely to do so. But they should also be realistic about the competitive landscape, which the Internet is transforming.

Traditional media outlets

Much of the concern about media consolidation stems from the enduring power of traditional media outlets. Programs aired by NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox continue to attract the biggest audiences on TV. A little more than half a dozen companies own most of the networks carried by cable and satellite operators, which serve 90 percent of U.S. households. At the same time, online upstarts such as YouTube and Facebook are claiming an increasing share of consumers’ time and attention. YouTube alone delivered more than 220 million video streams in April to U.S. viewers — per day.